Manchester United would never have existed were it not for a little girl and her love for a dog
Most Reds know the club was originally known Newton Heath LYR, but we hazard to guess not many know the story behind what led to history-defining name change.
Manchester United is one of if not the biggest football club in the world when it comes to its global fanbase, second only maybe to the likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona, but we’re going to go out on a limb and say how they were founded has nothing on the story of how the Red Devils came to be.
As most Reds and plenty of football fans, in general, will already know, they didn’t always go by Man United and before they were known as such, the club was called Newton Heath LYR FC — LYR denoting the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company workers that decided to put together the football team.
However, it wasn’t until 1902 that they swapped their green and gold strips for the now iconic red kit and the name was changed to Manchester United. As for the story behind why, Man United’s origins can be traced back to one single reason: a lost dog and a girl who fell in love with it.
As detailed in an episode of the BBC’s old current affairs programme Nationwide from 1973, the whole thing started when wealthy business John Henry Davies, a Manchester-based brewer, came across a St. Bernard wandering around one of his pubs and left his daughter to look after it.
J H Davies went on to become not only United’s owner but the chairman of the Manchester Brewery Company as well.
As daughter Elsie Partington, 84, goes on to explain, the precious pup named ‘Major’ was found on Oxford Road after getting lost at a dog show as part of a Newton Heath’s fundraising event, and it was only after the Davies family checked his collar that they were able to get in touch with the owners.
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Just 12 at the time, Elsie confessed she feel in love with the dog and “worshipped” it, so much so that upon returning it to the owner — one Harry Stafford — her father asked what it would take for him to keep the dog for his little girl.
Despite initially refusing, insisting that he “wouldn’t sell that dog for anything in the world” and regaling her father with the story of how Major saved both him and a drowning man at sea, Stafford was eventually persuaded after J H Davies promised to buy the club and invest in its future.
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In exchange for giving him the dog as a birthday present for his daughter, Davies helped them move from the boggy North Road fields next to the chemical works in Clayton to a brand-new ground known as Bank Lane, brought in new players and appointed Stafford not as the club’s director.
J H DaviesHarry StaffordThese two men, and a dog, quite literally founded Manchester United as we know it today. (Credit: Man United/Matthew Johnson)
And the rest, as they say, is history and although Man United may no longer bear the same name of colours as its Newton Heath, the two clubs are forever intertwined as one and the same thanks to their incredible and quite unbelievable origins.
Cut to modern day and that small nearly bankrupt club created a bunch of railway workers who simply loved having a kickabout is now a multi-billion-pound sporting franchise and footballing success story known around the world that has enjoyed some of the richest history any team could ever hope for.
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And it all started with a St. Bernard called Major.
They say dogs are man’s best friends — that goes twice for United fans.
Scott McTominay jokes he’s ‘fuming’ he didn’t score a hat-trick against Chelsea as he reflects on Man United’s mentality
Danny Jones
Scott McTominay has joked he’s “fuming” with himself after failing to score a hat-trick in Manchester United’s 2-1 win over Chelsea on Wednesday nightand shed some light on the mentality around Old Trafford.
McTominay starred in the Red Devils’ win over Mauricio Pochettino’s side on a cold night at home, managing to bag a brace with a goal in the first and second half to get his squad over the line, but he himself said he could have had more.
Speaking to MUTV after the game, the 26-year-old said he and the squad knew they needed to drum up a reaction after the Newcastle disappointment, adding that contributing more goals is something he wants to keep working on and insisting that plenty of people back him to do so.
Confessing that his mum, dad and grandad have all been encouraging him to “get in the box” and that he just needs to “believe in [him]self and go for it”, the Scotsman did go on to quip he was “fuming” to not grab a third as he shook his head went on to shake and reveal a wry smile.
Scott McTominay was the match-winner against Chelsea.
Commentator and presenter Stewart Gardner went on to list McTominay’s impressive stats this season, having now scored 14 goals in his last 33 appearances for club and country. A seriously good rate from a midfielder typically entrusted to help link play and break things up in the middle of the park.
Now boasting half a dozen goals and an assist across all competitions so far this campaign, he sits as the club’s leading goalscorer in the Premier League with five finishes to his name — with only Bruno Fernandes having contributed more (five goals and five assists) — he’s genuinely become one of Man United’s main goal threats.
While he recently rubbished talk that he played as a striker regularly coming up through the youth academy, simply having been deployed for the odd game in reality, he has always had a shot on him and it isn’t the first time he’s bagged a winner or a big goal for the Reds. This wasn’t a bad one either:
Chatting with the pundits on Amazon Prime Sport, he reiterated that he could have had “one or two more” on another night and agreed that the performance against Newcastle in the previous fixture was “pretty abysmal”, holding his hands up to admit that it was “no way near good enough”.
Reflecting on the later chance he had to seal the hat-trick towards the end of the game, he said he simply needed to “calm down on the last one”.
As for the mentality to get the result during a difficult period where the club remained under a lot of scrutiny from pundits and fans alike, McTominay went on to say that the manager is responsible for the way they played and some “lighter training sessions to keep energy levels up” definitely helped.
Regardless, he was sure to not get ahead of himself and assured ten Hag‘s team were still taking things a game at a time. You can watch the full highlights from Manchester United vs Chelsea down below:
Featured Images — Scott McTominay (via Instagram)/MUTV
Sport
Kevin Sinfield has entered the final leg of yet another ultra marathon challenge for MND
Danny Jones
Ex-rugby player turned England coach Kevin Sinfield has begun the final day of yet another incredible ultra marathon challenge he is undertaking to raise money and awareness around motor neurone disease (MND), with the sports personality scheduled to finish up this Thursday.
Having set off on 1 December, the Oldham-born athlete is facing what he has called easily his “toughest challenge” yet, taking on the newly-dubbed ‘Ultra 7 in 7 in 7’, which will see him once again run an ultra marathon every day for seven days across seven different cities.
Following on from his first Ultra 7 in 7 back in 2020 and most recent one last year, the Leeds Rhinos legend has now raised well over £8 million pounds for the Motor Neurone Disease Association (MNDA), the cause he got behind following his former teammate and best mate Rob Burrow’s diagnosis in 2019.
Now, having taken on the incredible feat once again — running the equivalent of 27 miles (43km) a day — Sinfield is hoping to not just reach the trademark £777,777 fundraising target, but smash it for a fourth consecutive time. Here he is finishing up his penultimate leg in his second home.
Setting off from Yorkshire’s iconic Headingley Stadium with a team of friends and volunteers, the 43-year-old has passed through the likes of Cardiff, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Dublin and Brighton, and is now staring down one last push towards the finale from Twickenham Stadium to the Mall in London.
Having already amassed over £557k in donations since the start of his remarkable journey, he is well on course to reach the finish line in every sense of the word.
The best part about this most recent Ultra 7 fundraising challenge, though, is that beyond just putting in the hard yards in Burrow‘s name and raising money for the MNDA, the funds generated from this series of runs will be going to multiple causes.
As well as the Leeds Hospitals Charity and The Darby Rimmer MND Foundation, money will also be going to the Irish MNDA set up by former Scottish rugby player, Doddie Weir, who sadly died from the condition in 2022 but has remained an inspiration to Sinfield and countless others over recent years.
Having echoed his lasting sentiment that “MND isn’t untreatable, it’s just underfunded” throughout his own campaigning for the cause, the local sporting hero will also be representing the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation in his honour. Heartwarming stuff.
As we’re sure is the case for all of you too, we’ve been absolutely blown away by this man over the last few years not only in his ability to keep completing these huge feats of endurance but by the size of his heart in continuing to fundraise on such a massive scale.
From raising awareness around MND and becoming an emblem of friendship with his best mate Rob, Kevin Sinfield has truly set an example for all of us and will no doubt prove a role model to millions for years to come.
Danny Jones -
14th July 2023 
